Shock-absorbing beam hanger assembly



June21, 1955 J,P.RATIGANV f 2,711,312

SHOCK-ABSORBING BEAM HANGER ASSEMBLY Filed April 24, 1950 I 2Sheets-Sheet l 11w "EN TOR.

June 21, 1955 J. RATIGAN 2,711,312

SHOCK-ABSORBING BEAM HANGER ASSEMBLY Filed April 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVEN TOR.

SHOCK-ABSORBING BEAM HANGER ASSEMBLY 7 James P. Ratigan, Los Angeles,Calif., assignor to J. P. Ratigan, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., acorporation of California 7 Application April 24, 1950, Serial No.157,830

2 Claims. (Cl. 267-1) This invention relates to the well pumping art andfinds particular usefulness in connecting the polish rod of an oil wellpump to support cables which operate over the horsehead. 1

An important object of the present invention is to provide an improvedform of cushion device for supporting the polish rod.

Another object is to provide an improved form of-wire line grip operablein pairs to support the cushion device.

Other and related objects and'advantages will appear more fullyhereinafter. i

In the drawings: t

Figure 1 is a perspective view partly brokenaway showing a well pumpinstallation embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view partly in section-showing my improvedcushioned beam hanger assembly.-

namesa 21, 1955 I 2 the walking beam 14 reverses direction during itsoperat-' ingcycle. The lifting force is thus cushioned and reduces thepeak loads which wouldotherwise be impar'ted f to the sucker rods uponeach reversal of the stroke. H

' dividual parts of my improved beam hanger assembly; 7

Proceeding to a more detailed descriptionlof thefineach ofthe wire lineclamps 10 cor'nprises an elongate body having parallel side walls 26, atop wall 27 and a bottom wall 28; The top and bottom walls are aperturedas shown at 29 and 30 to provide clearance for the support cables 12which extend through the'bodyj and through these apertures. The curvedfront wall 31 and the'fiat back wall 32 on the body 25 cooperate with ii the other walls {to-define a box-like constructionhavingf a centralrecess 33. A cable-contacting shoe34 is mount;

ed within the'recess 33 and is provided with a longitudinal groove 35for engagement with the wire line orcable 12. Rearwardlys projectingbosses 36 extend from' the a back wall 32 and are threaded to receivetheclam'ping.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevationl taken substantially Figure 5 is asectional plan view taken substantially on the lines 5-5assho'wriin-Figur 2. 1

Figure 6 is a perspectiveview of the rubber cushion employed inconnection with my invention. ,l

Referring to the drawings, the cushioned beam hanger assembly embodyingmy invention employs a pair of wire line clamps 10 which aresubstantially identical and a cushion support generally designated 11.The wire line clamps 10 are clamped on parallel cables 12 which extenddownward from a horsehead assembly 13 mounted on the usual walking beam14. The upper ends of the cables 12 are secured to the horsehead 13 byany convenient means (not shown). Each of the wire line clamps 10 isprovided with a downwardly extending yoke ,15

vided on the cushion support 11.

bolts 37. The inner ends of the clamping boltsengage the shoet3t4. Aretainer bolt 38 mayfl be provided if desired for holding the shoe 34againstjdisplacement when theclarnping bolts 37 are retracted.Thisretainer bolt 38 is threaded into the shoe 34 and extendsthrough anaperture 39 provided in'the .back'wall 32., When I the clamping screws37 arertightened the'shoe 34 clamps the cable 12 against the curvedinner wall31' of the body 25. The body 25Vmay beclamped at'any adjusted7 position along the length of the cable 12 sothat both of the wire lineclampdevices- 10-may-be positioned at. the same relative elevation. V 7f I Each of the wire line clamps 10 is provided withka yoke 15 formedintegrally with-the body 251 and merging into the side walls 26 as shownclearly int Figure 3."-

The' yoke is positioned in line with the cable-'12 so thatj bendingstresses in the clamp body or cable are avoided;

The shell 24 of the cushioning device 11 is provided with a cylindricalwall40having a central bore 41. A bottom flange or wall 42 is integrallyjoined 'with the cylindrical wall 40 and; closes the lower end ofthebore-- 41 The collar 22 is slidablyinounted within the bore 41 andrests on the upper end of the rubber cushion 23. The rubber-cushion 23.is inserted axially into the bore 41 through the upperend thereof in theabsence of the sliding collar 22 and clamp 19. The collar 17a] at theextreme upper end'of the polish rod 17 is disconnected to permit thecollar 23 to be'lowered over the polish rod. During this installationoperation the usual spacing clamp (not shown) is clamped to the polish'rod and rests on the well ,head 18 to supportthe polish rod a r andsucker rods The weight on the polish rod 17 applied hold the yokes 15and trunnions 16 in assembled relar tionship.

The polish rod 17 extends axially through the cushion support 11 andprojects'downward through the usual well head assembly 18 and isconnectedto the sucker rods (not shown) which operate the well pump. Apolish,

rod clamp 19 of any suitable type grips the polish rod, and the lowersurface 20 of the clamp 19 rests on the upper tubular projection 21 onthe sliding collar 22. A

rubber cushion 23 of generally cylindrical form is supported within themetallic shell 24, and the sliding collar" 22 rests on the upper endofthis cushion 23. The down- I ward force imposed on the polish rod 17causes the sliding collar 22 to distort the rubber cushion 23 within ofthe polish rod andits connected sucker rods when through the clamp 19 tothe colla'r'22 causes the collar 22 to move downward within the bore 41to distort the cushion sleeve 23. A'plurality of lateral ports 43 areprovided in rthe' cylindrical wall 40 and distributed at equal spacingaround the wall 40. The inner surfaces of these ports arerounded asshown at 44 to form a smooth juncture with the bore 41. When the rubbersleeve 23 is subjected to an eudwiseload by the sliding collar 22;portions of the sleeve adjacent the lateral ports 43 are caused" toproject outwardly into the ports as shown in Figure 2 The hardness/ofthe rubber and the size a of the ports 43 is so chosen that under theendwise loads applied by the polish rod 17 the rubber of the sleeve 23moves into the ports 43 but does not project for any substantialdistance beyond the outer diameter of the cylindrical wall 40. Therounded corners 44 joining the ports 43 to the bore 41 prevent cuttingof the rubber asit movesinto and out of the ports 43 as the load varieson the polish rod 17. While the sleeve 23 is 'describedas being formedof rubber, it is recognized that either natural or synthetic rubber orcompounds thereof may be employed. The'essential feature is that thematerial of the sleeve shall distort sufliciently under cndwise load tocause lateral protrusion of the material into the ports 43 in thecylindrical confining wall 48, and that the material shallbesufliciently resilient to return substantially to its original shapewhen the endwise load-is removed; A Shore hardness of 70-75 has beenfound satisfactory.

The rubber cushion sleeve 23 is provided with a central bore 45 throughwhich the polish rod 1.7 passes, and each end of the cushion sleeve ispreferably provided with a tubular extension 46. One of the tubularextensions 46 fits into the central opening 47 in the bottom wall 42 ofthe shell 24 and the other extension 46 projects into the bore 48 on thesliding collar 22. These projections 46 serve as pilots to center therubber sleeve 23 within the shell 24. The same sleeve 23, shell 24 andsliding collar 22 may be employed with polish rods of various diameters.A smaller polish rod does not fit the bore 45 closely, but the rubbersleeve collapses radially under endwise load so that a smaller diameterpolish rod will function with good results.

The change in endwise force applied by the polish rod 17 is caused bythe difference in the tension in the sucker rods on the upstroke ascompared to the downstroke, and also is affected by acceleration forcesapplied by the horsehead through the cables 12. The movement of thesliding collar 22 within the bore 48 is very slight but is sufficient tocushion the shock loads which would otherwise be applied to the polishrod 17.

The construction of the polish rod clamp 19 forms no part of the presentinvention, and any desired form of polish rod clamp can be used. Iprefer to employ that type of clamp shown in my copending application,Serial No. 556,797, filed October 2, 1944, now Patent No. 2,551,636,granted May 8, 1951.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my inventionis of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a cushioning device, the combination of: a rigid cylindrical shellopen at its upper side and closed at its bottom side, the cylindricalwalls of said shell having a plurality of circular apertures, said shellextending above the area occupied by said apertures to form a guidecyl-.

inder; a rubber cylinder filling said shell; a rigid piston covering theend of said rubber cylinder disposed at the open upper end of said shelland movable in said guide cylinder; and means for forcing said pistontoward the bottom of said shell Within said guide cylinder, thereby toaxially compress said rubber cylinder and radially expand fixed areasthereof through said circular apertures.

2. In a cushioning device, the combination of: a rigid cylindrical shellopen at its upper side and closed at its bottom side, the cylindricalwalls of said shell having a plurality of circular apertures, said shellextending above the area occupied by said apertures to form a guidecylinder; a rubber cylinder filling said shell; a rigid piston coveringthe end of said rubber cylinder disposed at the open upper end of saidshell and movable in said guide cylinder; means for forcing said pistontoward the bottom of said shell within said guide cylinder, thereby toaxially compress said rubber cylinder and radially expand fixed areasthereof through said circular apertures; diamet;

rically disposed trunnions at opposite sides of said shell adjacent itsupper end for suspending said shell; said rubber cylinder having alongitudinally extending bore to re-. ceive a rod; and means forconnecting said rod to said piston.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS107,035 Gardiner Sept. 6, 1870 126,794 Fields May 14, 1872 1,415,112Perlitz May 9, 1922 1,562,053 Ratigan Nov. 17, 1925 1,750,510 Day Mar.11, 1930 1,864,080 Madge June 21, 1932 1,936,389 Hallquist Nov. 21, 19332,004,712 Thiry June 11, 1935' 2,038,527 Eaton Apr. 28, 1936 2,122,839Guy July 5, 1938, 2,241,409 Mason May 13, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 668,848France July 22, 1929

